Installation for machining continuous materials comprising a modular device for applying fluids on said continuous materials

ABSTRACT

The invention concerns an installation for machining ( 1 ) a continuous material ( 2 ), comprising a device for applying fluids, for example plastic substances and/or fluid adhesives, in the form of a surface coat at least partly on the continuous material ( 2 ) directly applied or by transfer. Such installations are particularly used for laminating a continuous material and one or more substrates. The invention is characterized in that the application device (A) mounted in the deflecting and/or pressing roll ( 4 ) is an interchangeable modular unit.

The present invention relates to an installation for processingcontinuous materials, comprising a device for applying fluids, forexample free-flowing plastic and/or adhesive compounds, with the effectof at least partial surface coatings of continuous materials inaccordance with a direct or a transfer printing principle. Suchinstallations are normally used for laminating continuous materials andone or more substrates.

Apparatuses for surface coating in accordance with a direct or atransfer printing principle are known, for example from the documents CH648 497 A5 and DE 39 00 297 A1. However, the common disadvantage in allthe known apparatuses to date is that the application units respectivelyused are well-suited to specific substrates and/or fluids but are lesssuitable or even not suitable at all for others. Therefore, the areas ofapplication of such a processing installation are limited.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to avoid thedisadvantages of the known, in particular therefore to provide a devicefor applying fluids to a continuous material with which variousapplication techniques can be implemented.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by an installationfor processing continuous materials, comprising a device for applyingfluids to a continuous material according to the features of theindependent patent claims.

The processing installation according to the invention is used forapplying fluids to a continuous material. Here and in the followingtext, fluid is understood to mean a compound which is capable of flowingunder the application conditions. In this case, these can be plastics orelse other materials suitable for coating. Also provided in particularare adhesives, preferably hot-melt adhesives and two-componentadhesives. The functionality of the fluid can furthermore firstlyconsist in the coating per se and/or can serve to bring about aconnection between the continuous material and a first and/or secondsubstrate to be supplied subsequently. Here and in the following text,continuous material is understood to mean a two-dimensional structure,in particular of a textile nature, but also, for example, plastic films,thin paper sheets or other materials.

According to the invention, the continuous material, for example on aroll, is supplied to the processing installation via a conventional feedarrangement. The continuous material then passes through a rollarrangement for guiding the continuous material. This roll arrangementcomprises at least one deflection and/or pressure roll for guiding thecontinuous material in the region of the application device. It isimportant to the invention that the application device provided in theregion of this deflection and/or pressure roll is constructed modularlyas a structural unit. Here and in the following text, modularly orstructural unit is to be understood to mean that the respectiveapplication device can be added to the processing installation as a unitand removed again without further complicated rebuilding of theprocessing installation being necessarily. In this case, it is importantthat the deflection and/or pressure roll provided in the region of theapplication device remains on the processing installation independentlyof the respective application device used in a modular fashion, that isto say said roll is compatible with all the application devices providedand marks the “dividing line” between the application unit, which can bereplaced in a modular fashion, and the processing installation. Thecontinuous material to which the fluid is to be applied is in this casealways guided past the application device by means of the aforesaiddeflection and/or pressure roll in such a way that application of thefluid to the continuous material is possible with various applicationdevices. This permits a high degree of flexibility of the methodsequence on the basis of the respective application, sincetime-consuming and costly rebuilding of the entire processinginstallation is no longer needed. The conversion to a differentapplication technique can now be carried out by the comparatively simplereplacement of complete, modular application devices.

In a preferred embodiment, a modular application device is providedwhich has a slot-like application region. In this case, this applicationregion is arranged in the wrap region of the deflection and/or pressureroll, applying the fluid directly to the continuous material. Inparticular, in this case the slot-like application region can bearranged so as to rest directly, at right angles or obliquely, on thecontinuous material, if appropriate exerting a suitable pressure on thedeflection and/or pressure roll via the continuous material. Here and inthe following text, a suitable pressure is understood to mean a pressurewhich improves the uniform application of the fluid without thefriction, required for this purpose, between the application device andthe continuous material being unnecessarily high. However, it is notessential to the invention that the application region rests on thecontinuous material to which the fluid is to be applied. Instead, anapplication region arranged freely above the continuous material is alsoexpressly possible. In a particularly preferred embodiment, theslot-like application region is a fishtail die.

In a further preferred embodiment, a modular application device isprovided which applies the fluid to the continuous material in atransfer printing method via a system comprising at least two rolls. Inthis case, the two rolls can be arranged both beside each other and oneabove the other, and the direction of rotation of the two rolls can beboth in the same direction and in the opposite direction. It is merelyimportant that the fluid is applied to the continuous material via theroll of the application device that faces the deflection and/or pressureroll.

In a further suitable embodiment, a modular application device isprovided which conveys the fluid via a profiled roll, the fluid beingtransported substantially via depressions within the roll. In this case,the application of the fluid to the continuous material is carried outsubstantially in accordance with the profiling of the profiled roll, inparticular in a point-like manner.

According to a further preferred embodiment, a modular applicationdevice is provided which applies the fluid to the continuous materialvia a finely distributing spraying apparatus. Of course, the sprayingapparatus, in particular the spray head, is in this case alwaysdimensioned such that it is suitable for the specific characteristics ofthe respective fluid and efficient spraying is ensured. This applies inparticular when the fluid to be applied is an adhesive.

In a further preferred embodiment and in a modification of the previousembodiment, a modular application device is provided which applies thefluid to the continuous material via a coarsely distributing castingapparatus. Such an application device is useful in particular in thecase of more viscid fluids, which may not be sprayed efficiently becauseof an increased viscosity.

Of course, within the processing installation, following application ofthe fluid to the continuous material in accordance with one of theembodiments described above, an arrangement for supplying a firstsubstrate can be integrated, for example in the case of laminating thecontinuous material with one or more substrates. In this case, the fluidused is typically one which is suitable for producing a connectionbetween the continuous material and the first substrate, preferably anadhesive, in particular a hot-melt adhesive.

According to a further preferred configuration of the invention, afterit has been connected to a first substrate, the continuous material isconveyed onward in the processing installation and supplied to a furtherdeflection and/or pressure roll. The second deflection and/or pressureroll is arranged in the region of a second, modular application device.In analogy with the embodiments already described, here too all theabove embodiments of a modular application device can again be mounted.Of course, depending on the guidance of the composite comprisingcontinuous material and first substrate, the application of a secondfluid can be made to the side of the continuous material or else to theside of the first substrate. Furthermore, the use of different fluidsfor connecting the first and the second substrate is of course alsopossible, as long as this does not result in any compatibility problemsthat are undesirable for the respective application. By means ofsupplying a possible second substrate, a connection either to thecontinuous material or to the first substrate can now be brought about.By means of the replaceability of both application devices, achievedaccording to the invention, the result is thus high flexibility in theproduction process, in particular of multilayer laminates, since theapplication devices can easily be adapted to the fluid to be applied,depending on the laminate to be produced.

The invention will be explained below using drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of the processing installation according to theinvention with various replaceable, modular application devices;

FIG. 2 shows a diagram of the processing installation according to theinvention with two replaceable, modular application devices.

FIG. 1 shows a processing installation 1 according to the inventionwhich, in a first processing step, is used to apply a fluid 6 to acontinuous material 2. The continuous material 2 may optionally also besupplied to the processing installation 1 as roll material 2 a. Thecontinuous material 2 then runs through a roll arrangement 3 for guidingthe continuous material. This roll arrangement 3 also comprises at leastone deflection and/or pressure roll 4 for guiding the continuousmaterial in the region of an application device A. This applicationdevice A is of modular construction here, so that it can be replacedwithout complicated rebuilding of the processing installation, forexample by the application devices 51 or 52. In the example shown, anapplication device 5 has been installed which conveys the fluid 6 via aprofiled roll 7. This profiled roll 7 has depressions 7 a, which can befilled with the fluid 6, 7 b. In accordance with a transfer printingmethod, the continuous material 2 running through between the deflectionand/or pressure roll 4 and the profiled roll 7 is printed with the fluid6 in the depressions 7 b of the profiled roll 7. Following the contactbetween the continuous material 2 and the profiled roll 7, the fluid 6is located on the continuous material 2 in accordance with the patternof the profile of the profiled roll 7, for example in point-like regions8. Given suitable selection of the fluid 6, for example therefore in thecase of an adhesive, a first substrate 9 can subsequently be supplied,for example in order to be laminated with the continuous material 2. Inthe region of a further deflection and/or pressure roll 10, thesubstrate is then brought into contact with the side of the continuousmaterial 2 coated with the fluid 6 and is then conveyed onward with thelatter.

FIG. 1 also shows, as examples, two further modular application devices51 and 52, which can be mounted as a replacement for the applicationdevice 5. Irrespective of the modular application device which ismounted in each case, the deflection and/or pressure roll 4 is alwaysused to guide the continuous material 2 past the respective modularapplication device in such a way that it is possible to apply the fluid6 to the continuous material 2. The application device 51 is, forexample, a system comprising at least two rolls 11 and 12, in which thefluid 6 is applied to the continuous material 2 via a transfer printingmethod. The two rolls 11 and 12 can in this case be arranged both besideeach other and one above the other, and the direction of rotation of thetwo rolls 11 and 12 can be both the same and opposite.

The modular application device 52 has an apparatus 13 with a slot-likeregion for applying the fluid 6. In particular, the apparatus 13 canalso be a fishtail die 13 a.

FIG. 2 shows an apparatus 100 according to the invention, in which twomodular application devices 5 and 105 are mounted.

Both application devices 5 and 105 each contain a profiled roll 7 and107, respectively, which are fed with the fluid 6 and 106 by anapparatus 14 and 114 in each case. The fluids 6 and 106 can be the sameand also different kinds of fluids. The application devices 5 and 105are likewise shown as profiled rolls, merely by way of example.According to the invention, all other modular application devicesdescribed above can also be mounted in its place, that is to say devices5, 51, 52, 53, 54 as the first application device A, and, in acorresponding way in analogy, 105, 151, 152, 153 and 154 as the secondapplication device A2. A first substrate 9 is supplied in a procedureanalogous to that described in FIG. 1. The continuous material 2 towhich the fluid 6 is applied is brought into contact via the deflectionand/or pressure roll 10. The continuous material 2 and the firstsubstrate 9 are then transported onward together and, in the wrap regionof the deflection and/or pressure roll 104, have a further fluid 106applied to them via a second modular application device A2. In theexample shown, the application with the second fluid 106 is carried outon the side of the continuous material 2. Of course, according to theinvention, an application of the second fluid 106 to the side of thefirst substrate 9 is also possible, however. In the further methodsequence, a second substrate 109 can be supplied, which is brought intocontact with the first substrate 9 or the continuous material 2 via afurther deflection and/or pressure roll and is guided onward togetherwith the former. By using the apparatus according to the inventionshown, for example during the production of a three-layer laminate, itis for the first time possible to replace the modular applicationdevices A and A2 without difficulty and thus to adapt the applicationprinciple to the laminate to be produced in each case.

1. An installation for processing continuous materials, saidinstallation comprising a roll arrangement for guiding the continuousmaterial, having a deflection and/or pressure roll and a plurality offluid application modules, each adapted to interact with said deflectionand/or pressure roll, for applying a fluid to the continuous material,each said application module being an independent structural unit whichcan be removably connected to the processing installation andsubsequently replaced by another one of said modules for easily adaptingthe application modules to the fluid to be applied, the deflectionand/or pressure roll being arranged on the processing installation insuch a way that, when the application module is removed from theinstallation, the deflection and/or pressure roll remains on theprocessing installation and said modules having different fluidapplication principles.
 2. The installation as claimed in claim 1,wherein the application module is a structural unit having a slot-likeapplication region, which is arranged in the wrap region of thecontinuous material on the deflection and/or pressure roll for applyingthe fluid.
 3. The installation as claimed in claim 2, wherein theslot-like application region comprises a fishtail die.
 4. Theinstallation as claimed in claim 1, wherein the application module is astructural unit which has at least one application roll for conveyingthe fluid, which roll is arranged in the wrap region of the continuousmaterial on the deflection and/or pressure roll.
 5. The installation asclaimed in claim 4, wherein the application roll has a profiled surface,which in particular has depressions for conveying the fluid.
 6. Theinstallation as claimed in claim 1, wherein the application module is astructural unit having a spraying apparatus which applies the fluid andis arranged in the wrap region of the continuous material on thedeflection and/or pressure roll.
 7. The installation as claimed in claim1, wherein the application module is a structural unit having a castingapparatus which applies the fluid and is arranged in the wrap region ofthe continuous material on the deflection and/or pressure roll.
 8. Theinstallation as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an arrangementfor supplying a substrate downstream of the application module, by meansof which arrangement the substrate can be laminated with the continuousmaterial by means of the fluid applied.
 9. The installation as claimedin claim 1, further comprising an additional application module for afluid, which is connected downstream of the first application module, isconstructed as a structural unit and is separably connected to theprocessing installation, a second deflection and/or pressure roll beingarranged on the installation in such a way that, when the additionalapplication module is separated, the second deflection and/or pressureroll remains on the processing installation.
 10. The installation asclaimed in claim 9, further comprising an arrangement for supplying asecond substrate downstream of the additional modular applicationmodule, by means of which arrangement the second substrate can belaminated with the continuous material or the first substrate by meansof the fluid applied.